Forever 21, Charlotte Russe and Wet Seal caught in the act of selling accessories contaminated with heavy metals. 

Recently released findings from investigations carried out by the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, CA found that astonishingly high amounts of lead were in the purses, belts and shoes sold by Forever 21, Charlotte Russe and Wet Seal. The tests were carried out by an independent lab, with findings indicating that more than half of the accessories sold by Wet Seal over the past year contained more lead than legally allowed, while about 25 percent of accessories from the other two brands also flunked the tests. The question really is why is there lead in these accessories in the first place?

All three brands signed a legal agreement more than three years ago that required them to not sell items containing levels of lead higher than a certain amount, but they have apparently failed come even close to the agreed levels with several of their accessories. Investigations into the matter started after a Chinese whistleblower  tipped the Center for Environmental Health’s attorneys off about a lead-containing boot that’s been sold at Charlotte Russe for the past two years. The attorneys took the matter under investigation, finding that the boot in fact contained lead more than 20 times above the safety standard of 7,000 parts per million.

Even scarier is the fact that more than half of the Wet Seal accessories the CEH tested contained far more lead than is considered safe, with a yellow belt reaching first place at 33,200 parts per million of the metal. Lead poisoning is a major environmental health problem in the U.S. that has led to cases of kidney damage, learning disabilities in children, behavior problems, poor muscle coordination and has been linked to higher infertility rates in women and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

In fact, scientists are now concluding that there is really no “safe” level of lead for humans to be exposed to, especially in the case of children and pregnant women. Since many of these brands target preteen and teenage girls, as well as young women, there is definitely cause for concern. As executive director of the CEH, Michael Green says, “Families should not support giant retailers that flout the law and ignore their responsibility to provide safer products.” You’d think that’s common sense, but these brands have been getting away with hankering toxic products for years. How many cases of outrageous health violations will it take for the greater public to stop buying cheap and tainted fast fashion products?

Image: dandeluca

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What are “fashion haul” videos saying about today’s teenager’s attitude toward consumerism, and what’s on the other side of the spectrum.

In case you haven’t heard the term, “fashion hauling” refers to an internet phenomenon that has young (mostly) girls showing off their latest shopping finds to thousands of viewers in “haul videos” on YouTube. To be able to afford a constant stream of new stuff, haulers usually shop at fast fashion chains like Forever 21, H&M, Charlotte Russe and Target, or discount retailers like Marshalls, JC Penney or TJ Maxx.

Though this may seem like an innocent way for young girls to express themselves and share shopping finds with online peers, it’s becoming a serious issue because it promotes rampant, mindless consumerism. Haulers love fast fashion retailers because everything is cheap and they can afford a lot. They buy buy buy without putting any thought in how their clothing was made and where it comes from. If you consider the entire supply chain – from the raw materials and the labor required to the shipping and marketing – it is simply not possible to make a T-shirt that costs $7.

This video, a fashion haul by bodyrock.tv has over 3,6 million views on Youtube.

Fast fashion retailers, of course, do not want you to think about this stuff, they just want you to buy it. So naturally most of them have embraced the fashion hauling phenomenon with open arms, some of them even sponsoring popular haulers by offering gift cards, video contests and other incentives. Haulers seemingly live in a world where happiness can be bought, for a single-digit price tag at Forever 21, and everything is just “OMG, so cute!” To those of us far removed from it, these girls seem to be motivated by a desperate search for meaning.

The girls in this video, which has over 2 million views, just went on a serious shopping spree at Forever 21.

While it’s troubling to watch this trend develop and grow, there is also another side to the story. At the other end of the spectrum, many of today’s youth are distancing themselves entirely from the idea of ownership, looking for simplicity and alternative solutions to things they see not working in society. Instead of buying cars, they get Zipcar memberships, instead of buying CDs and DVDs they use Spotify, Hulu and other cloud-based streaming services, and instead of seeing the purchase of a home as the ultimate achievement they appreciate the freedom of renting. The less stuff you have, the more you stick it to the man.

This one has over 900,000 views and close to 12,000 comments.

Perhaps both of these extremes are reactions to coming of age in a time of economic uncertainty and political upheaval, but what does this polarization say about our society? And, more importantly, what effect will it have on the future of consumption? Does slow, considered fashion stand a chance against this escalating fashion hauling trend? Only time will tell, but perhaps it’s time to popularize “vintage hauling” or “stuff-I-already-have-in-my-closet hauling”?

Lead image, still from this video

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